WITH the every increasing rules concerning the disposal of items, commercial fly tipping is becoming more and more prevalent on the waterways.

During the past month, in addition to the loads of rubbish tipped at the eastern entrance of the Harecastle Tunnel, there have been reports of other instances of commercial tipping.

Clearly commercial

South of Birmingham on the Worcester & Birmingham Canal the pictured load of rubbish was discovered, that again is clearly a commercial endeavour.

A Grantham Canal ranger had a shock when he drove into the car park at Fosse Bridge to encounter 20 fridges and freezers that had been dumped overnight, that was clearly a case of a commercial activity.

They have since been cleared by Canal & River Trust.

'Normal fly tipping'

In addition to the growth of commercial fly tipping, 'normal' fly tipping too is increasing with the canals becoming more and more a depository for unwanted rubbish, with all too often lock gates being unable to be fully opened as rubbish of one kind or another is stuck behind.

And there cannot be many boaters who have not felt their boat shudder as it passes over something that had been slung into a waterway under a bridgeâ€”seemingly a popular place for an unwanted fridge, etc.

The picture shows a lock at Blackburn on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal, where the rubbish had to be pulled away to be able to get the lock gate open.